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3 Ways Successful Marketing is Like a Great Football Team

Posted on 09/02/2013

It’s officially football season. You’ve made it through the drought that is summer. Time to crack open a beverage, toss on your favorite team’s jersey and enjoy.

But before you turn on the big game or hop in your car to go tailgate, let’s take a moment to think about how your organization’s successful marketing campaign parallels a great game plan for your beloved football team.

Devise a Set of Consistent Goals
Throughout the entire football season, a coach is responsible for tracking the progress of his team toward their goals. And in order to achieve this, he must continually research, train and adjust what works for his unique combination of team members for that particular season.

This principle holds true for marketing. To achieve your sales goals for this quarter, you should outline specifically what you want to accomplish. Then design a marketing game plan around that goal. It may consist of a number of marketing tactics, whether it’s direct mail, new in-store signage or email marketing.

Work as a Team
It’s typically easy for a coach to get the team behind a common goal of winning the big game.

Think of your entire staff as one team. Everyone should be aware of the marketing plan and how each person contributes to the success of the messages you’re putting out into the world. Whether it’s delivering the products on time or employing top-notch customer service, your marketing words should mirror your staff’s actions.

Build each other up (but skip the celebratory chest bumps in order to avoid problems with HR) and celebrate your success. And if there’s a team member not being fully utilized, ask them for their input. Be a good coach. Utilize all of your players for their unique strengths.

Learn to Adapt
We’ve all seen this scenario played out on the field: the all-star quarterback gets injured and the coach is forced to put in the rookie who everyone doubts. But ultimately that rookie shocks and delights the stadium. Game-winning pass. The stadium roars. Cheering. Game over.

This principle holds true for marketing. Sometimes the game plan must change in order to achieve success. If your plays aren’t working, you need to adjust your strategy. In most instances, marketing plans only need slight adjustments to make a big difference. Just be ready to creatively problem solve. Marketing is an ever-shifting discipline. Like a coach, you must adapt or lose.